You're Healed If You Think You Are

As research for my upcoming book The Prescription: 5 Spiritual Steps To Healing Yourself From Illness, Trauma, Or Loss, I have been digging deep into the medical literature, going back as far as the 1920's into medical journals in order to find cold, hard science to prove what I have long believed --that we hold within us self-healing superpowers that are stronger than any chemotherapy and more effective than any surgery.

So it delights me that, more and more, such evidence is appearing in modern day media. This week, a CNN headline reported on a fascinating study from Harvard University which was also just published in the New England Journal of Medicine. This study investigated 39 asthma patients and rotated them through four treatments--an albuterol inhaler (standard treatment for asthma), a placebo inhaler, sham acupuncture (the patients thought they were getting real acupuncture, but the needles were just placed willy nilly), and nothing. Every week, they got a different treatment, but the patients didn't know some of the treatments were fake.

So what happened? Unsurprisingly, 50% felt better after getting the albuterol inhaler. But lo and behold - a similar percentage felt better after getting a placebo inhaler (45%) and sham acupuncture (46%). Even among those who received no treatment, 21% felt better.

Although those who received the albuterol inhaler had more dilated bronchi, symptom improvement between the albuterol group and the two placebo groups were not statistically different. Which brings up an interesting phenomenon.

So what is actually happening?

I'll be digging deep into this issue in my book, but suffice it to say that something very powerful happens when you BELIEVE you are being treated with something that will heal you. In all but the "do nothing" treatment group, patients believed they were being given real treatment, and the combination of the belief in getting well and the support of a therapeutic relationship has been proven, time and time again in clinical research trials, to result in powerful symptom relief.

In fact, in clinical trials across the board, the placebo effect ranges from 30-75% efficacy. And it's not just symptom relief. Although this study showed 20% improvement in lung function in those receiving albuterol, compared to 7% in those receiving placebo, some studies show even more marked physiological effects in the placebo group. Which means that it's not just in your mind. Your body is actually responding physiologically. Through a series of physiological shifts, your body is actually activating a cascade of healing mechanisms that can improve your asthma, relieve pain, increase energy, and even - sometimes - cure cancer.

Regarding the Harvard study, study author Ted Kaptchuk said, "It's clear that for the patient, the ritual of treatment can be very powerful. This study suggests that in addition to active therapies for fixing diseases, the idea of receiving care is a critical component of what patients value in health care. In a climate of patient dissatisfaction, this may be an important lesson."

Yes, I agree with that. But I would argue that it goes beyond the active therapy and the idea of receiving care. I think hope is a powerful healing force, and your state of mind greatly affects the state of your body.

What do you believe?

So what do you believe about your body? Has a doctor told you that your illness is "incurable?" Do you believe you'll have to take medication for the rest of your life? Do you BELIEVE you might be able to heal yourself, not just from a physical health condition, but from an emotional, sexual, professional, financial, interpersonal, or other type of whole health issue?

I believe you have the power to heal yourself. And I'll be writing more about the proof I'm finding in the medical literature to support that belief as I dig deeper, so make sure you're signed up for my newsletter.

What do you believe? Have you healed yourself from a health condition? Have you tried to heal yourself - and failed? Tell us your stories in the comments below.

Isn't this just the placebo effect? No disrespect intended at all, but scientists have been aware of the placebo effect for years and do their best to create clinical trials that minimize its effects.

There's no question that placebo effect exists. In fact, it's arguable that it's the key factor in so many of the "alternative healing" anecdotes that we hear about but for which there is no scientific reason to think the remedy should work.

I think that placebo effect leads to some very interesting questions about how our minds work.

But, I'm concerned that some people may think the take-away of this article is that "real medicine" (in this case, the albuterol inhaler) is no better than sugar pills or quack remedies.

The danger is that people gravitate toward bogus alternative remedies or ineffective treatments and experience improvement due ENTIRELY to placebo effect......and they're not getting the actual medical attention that they may need for their genuine health problem.

There are numerous cases where this has occurred; where someone has gotten into the "anti-doctor/anti-science" rhetoric and decided to treat themselves with alternative remedies. While a placebo effect allowed them some small and hopeful improvements....their actual health problem worsened, often to the point of death. And it was entirely preventable had the person opted for real medical treatment instead of the allure of bogus alternative therapies and placebo effects.

No doubt, our minds are powerful. I just think we should proceed with caution when we talk about how placebo effect can be used in health/medicine.

You say that patients have to believe that they are being treated in order to get better, but that's not necessarily the case. http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19904-placebos-can-work-even-when-you-know-theyre-fakes.html

You say that patients have to believe that they are being treated in order to get better, but that's not necessarily the case. http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19904-placebos-can-work-even-when-you-know-theyre-fakes.html

The Placebo effect is just the common accepted name we have agreed upon to describe the "power of the mind", "suggestion" and other hypnotic ways we, humans can use to survive, heal and thrive. There are many ways to increase and improve the precision and power of that skill that "so many" still want to deny. But thanks to the development of imaging technologies like fMRI and PET scans, we have been able to measure and demonstrate that the brain responds physiologically the same way to a placebo effect (say in a simulated pain experiment) as a painkiller drug. It engages the same brain centers and dopamine receptors that a painkiller drug does. Neurosci Bull October 1, 2009, 25(5): 277-282.
So, we "consumers" should demand the "placebo" treatment (mindful guided imagery, hypnosis or other NLP techniques) FIRST and as practitioner/caregiver, first do no harm...
Doesn't it make a lot of sense to at least offer mindful alternatives before risking harm with strong medicine accompanied by strong side effect!?

After reading this article, it brings me joy to say that this research demonstrates the importance of the patient's views, beliefs, and feelings. There's a lot we can learn from this idea that the patient's feelings towards their treatment and even their clinician are vital in order to gain the best form of therapy/treatment and recovery. Although I just want to add after reading the article concerning the 39 patients objective physiological recovery. The study demonstrates that the placebo affect should perhaps be used in moderation, in the appropriate context - because if patients are mentally feeling more stable, and perceive their physiological condition as better, when it's not actually significantly better, this could cause complications in numerous ways. For instance, they could be at a critical condition, or their condition may be degrading, and yet if they are reporting an increase in their symptoms - this could mislead the practitioner. Also, this may cause shock to the patient if they mentally feel.better, but they need are higher form of teatment, which could impact on the patients self esteem. I think this arouses the debate between the patients satisfaction and their quality of treatment, and I feel a strong balance is key; so not to dismiss the patients feelings.altogether, but to maintain a high level of treatment which will objectively make a difference.

Other than that, I am not criticizing the idea behind this work. As Descartes pointed out, the mind does has a significant effect on the body, and I think the patients feelings are paramount, and are.very powerful, and so should not be used in anyway other than to ensure recovery in all dimensions, subjectively and objectively.

Keep up the great work and I'd love to see more evidence supporting the idea of hope as an extremely important factor to well-being.

I once overheard/looked/read an experiment (sadly cannot remember the details and thus' cannot point you as to where it is at) which subjected people to a source of pain and then they had the task of focusing out the pain (no placebo, just a though pattern to rid themselves of the pain), suprisingly in some cases the subjects actually decreased the feeling of pain to such extent as they would have done if they took morphine.

I myself have also created a technique that works (for me at least) at alleviating the pain. I do this by creating an imaginary cause to the pain I'm feeling (eg. for a sharp pain in my muscles I imagine a sort of spear lodged in my leg causing me the pain, for a tightening pain in the stomach I imagine as if there were some chains which apply the painful pressure) and then I simply rid myself of the imaginary source of pain - basically tricking the main that my imaginary cause of pain is real and that once I rid myself of it the pain subsides.
I was astonished when I first tried this out for myself, the effect is instant and the feeling of pain is nowhere to be found. Although the first time I've tried it, I was in such shock that I kept thinking and looking and checking to make sure if the pain is really gone - in doing so I brought the pain back - but another quick mind trick set it off again and this time I stopped myself from focusing on the no longer present pain.

I would greatly appreciate it if others tried this technique out for themselves. (and share their results)
So next time you feel a pain of sorts, simply create an imaginary reason for it and move your hands to pull out that "spear" and throw it away, or break those "chains" and toss them off you. If at first you don't succeed then try a few more times and don't focus on calling the pain back, instead simply savor in the feeling of painlessness.

I think a few things should be stated. This study in asthma patients is not a very large study and the numbers in each of the groups probably does not substantiate a very significant number, but the point is well taken. It is more than a simple placebo or nocebo effect, but the ritual where individuals speak to one another and mind-body connections. anne Harrington covers this topic beautiful in her book "The Cure within" which is currently the treastise on mind-body medicine. I am currently pursuing a PhD of Philosophy with an emphasis in Mind-Body Medicine and nonlocal healing (prayer, thoughts etc). The mind-body connection is more than if you think you are healthy then you are. What about those individuals who think they are healthy and they don't get better? Are they failures? I fear by making claims of placebo or spontaneous healing without truly looking at the vastness of the literature on both sides can do a disservice to the MBM movement. There are hudnreds of studies that show prayer and thought can heal and there are just as many showing it does nothing, and a few that show it can even harm. Also the flip side to this is what happens with the individual who thinks they are gravely ill, will they cause their own demise? This is something to consider. also some of the commenters have likened placebo to guided imagery and hypnosis which is a fallacy that is easy to make and one that is pushed forward when we so easily use terminology. If sham is something that is done willy-nilly then we want to make sure as physicians we are not going down the slippery slope of declaring something from one study with small numbers. I think the numbers are out there and the data is still forthcoming. Let's wait and monitor the data rahter than relying on anecdotal experience.

If you believe you can breathe better, you will. It works. I've had asthma symptoms my entire life, I'm thirty one, and for the last year, I have been mostly asthma free. Mostly means, less and less inhaler use, more relaxing the mind, and being way way more energetic and confident.

Let me tell what makes asthma work: Fear of aggression. Pacifity. Your brain clams up at the slightest reproach, your breaths decrees because you start thinking about Everything. ADHD, OCD, every nuero-disease out there starts with fear and the mind. Escpecially Asthma.

How do you get rid of it. Well, like the article says, it's in the brain. First you have to accept that you cannot control everything around you, that it's okay for everything around you to exist, and that you have surrender to just being alive. I know it sounds bogus, but it's not.

I feel like having sex with everyone now. My comebacks are sharper. I can handle anything. I can multi-task better. I don't care if I misspell something. I am rambling, you get the picture.

That's my comment for the day, hope it helps. If not, you're giong to die anyway, so why not just do it with a lung full of air.